UK - Point Source Productions Ltd, the London-based hire company, has started the new year by investing in over £250,000 of new hire stock, expanding its inventory with equipment from manufacturers such as Chroma Q, Clay Paky, ETC, GDS and Selecon.

The investment comes on the back of an extremely successful year in 2012 for the company as it supplied events surrounding the multiple celebrations in and around the capital.

"The high-profile sporting and royal events - and the various spin-offs generated by them - during the summer kept us busy and has enabled us to expand our stock in readiness for what is promising to be a very busy 2013," says Point Source Productions' MD, Stephen Capel.

"We decided to increase our moving light stock by delving into the impressive Clay Paky catalogue and have invested in the Alpha Spot HPE 700 profiles and A.Leda K10 was

Norway - This year's electrifying Nobel Peace Prize Concert saw Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Spot luminaires, supplied by Norway's AVAB CAC, star as the power luminaire of choice for respected lighting director Nick Collier.

"The main challenge in lighting this particular show is the variety of performers," explains Collier, who took over lighting design duties from original designer, Al Gurdon. "The design has to bring out the best in Peter Bingemann's excellent set, and allow us the ability to deliver a unique look to each of the tracks. To this end, the VL3000 Spot is the obvious candidate. It has a very bright lamp, with excellent zoom optics."

American actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Scottish actor Gerard Butler hosted the annual event held at the Spektrum Arena, Oslo while performances came from Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Hudson and Seal amongst others.

T

UK - The eco-conscious and budget-minded now have a new way to cut back on energy expenditures, according to manufacturer ETC. ETC's Paradigm Responsive Controls - the latest additions to the award-winning Unison Paradigm family of architectural control - are a sleek, convenient way to reduce wasted electricity in any space, the company says.

Paradigm Occupancy/Vacancy Sensors use passive infrared sensors (PIR) to detect vacancy, automatically shutting lights off when a space is unoccupied. They can also be configured to turn on when someone enters a room. ETC's architectural market manager Joe Bokelman says: "The Occupancy/Vacancy Sensors save energy because you're not paying to light an empty room."

The sensors are available with masks to prevent trips or false triggers. Instead of having to dismantle the product to install the masks, the Paradigm Occupancy/Vacancy

Slovenia - Robe is the moving light of choice at the prestigious Cankarjev Dom in Republic Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has over 100 Robe products in its inventory.

Named after writer and playwright Ivan Cankar, the building was designed by leading Slovenian architect Edvard Ravnikar and opened in 1982, complete with a large basement area that is fortified to withstand a nuclear attack!.

It is the largest Slovenian cultural and congress centre and features six venues - the biggest is a 1650 capacity concert hall - plus several galleries and studio spaces. It's both a producing and a receiving venue staging a wide variety of shows, events all year round, from opera to dance, popular music to choral, orchestra to drama ... and everything in between.

Sometimes there are multiple shows a day, and up to 15 different performances a week is not unusual during the busy periods

USA - Bandit Lites had the privilege of lighting the 31st Annual Texaco Country Showdown, the nation's largest and longest running country talent search. The event took place at The Ryman Auditorium on 17 January and was hosted by singer/songwriter Jewel.

California band Poor Man's Poison, one of five finalists, triumphed over the competition, which included Kassie and Ben, The Brothers Roberson, Deidre Thornell and Kate and Corey. The winning act was selected by a group of industry executives and artists, and was awarded a Grand Prize of $100,000.

Lighting designer Mark Carver has provided the lighting design for the contest for several years, and has become adept at transforming The Ryman. Parts of a circular truss, made up of two arch trusses, created a twin circular look over the stage. VL 2500s and Coemar Halos were hung over the stage, while Bandit GRN fixtures washed th

UK - Working with lighting designer, Petter Skramstad, PRG have provided an innovative lighting system to feature at the Topman/BFC show for Family Productions.

As part of London Collection Men's Fashion week, Topman's show took place at The Old Sorting Office in New Oxford Street.

The space featured a creative curved design with a 100m catwalk that weaved around the venue, designed by 42 Architects. PRG's Loz Wilcox, provided over 100 Chromlech Jarag fixtures, which in a break from their traditional use as a dynamic eye candy effect, were suspended above the catwalk and used as the primary lighting fixture for the collection. The luminaires were suspended from a piece of custom rolled barrel stipulating the line of the catwalk around the venue.

Continuing with the curved theme, the walls surrounding the audience were bespoke backlit cycloramas using 36 ColorBlaze 48's and 7

Sweden - Experienced Swedish lighting designer Henrik Lundin is discovering that SGM's new X-5 LED strobes are making an increasingly powerful contribution to his show designs.

A member of the successful Stockholm-based company Satellite Live, since touring with eight of the new white strobes from the newly set-up SGM Sweden (headed by Mikael Uddh), he has never looked back.

One of the latest dance extravaganzas to undertake an extensive club tour with the strobes has been electro/hip hop group Maskinen (The Machine). "Because we were often visiting clubs with limited access to power, the X-5, with its low power draw when compared with the traditional energy hungry xenon sources, became a natural choice," he says.

The X-5 is not only a high-efficiency white LED strobe but its astonishing power is harnessed in an extremely compact form factor. By combining LED techn

UK - A lucky student from Birmingham's top creative, digital and performing arts academy has landed the opportunity of a lifetime; lighting the stage at the star-studded BRIT Awards ceremony.

Devante Benjamin, 17, from Birmingham fought off tough competition to join two students from London's BRIT school to work alongside some of the best in the business; preparing, installing, operating and de-rigging lighting equipment at the high profile event hosted by James Corden at London's 02 Arena next month.

Currently in Year 13 studying Production Arts at Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA), Devante has already had the chance to work on a number of high profile events including the Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies.

He said: "I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to work on a lot of really exciting projects during my time at BOA, but this will be the biggest by

UK - Knight of Illumination Award-winner and lighting designer Cate Carter has harnessed the precise and powerful beam control of Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX luminaires to create a beautifully focused, and surprisingly intimate, show for Elbow at London's 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, provided by Lite Alternative.

"The VL3500 Wash FX provides me with both a powerful beam and even coverage for the stage wash," explains Carter. "The range of the zoom allows me to use these fixtures in different capacities to fulfill multiple applications and also the quality of the color mixing gives me a really diverse palette, from which I can build many different looks."

The design, a deconstructed yet no less imaginative version of the full production tour from the previous year, is both intimate and expansive and as expected not just restricted to the stage.

"The

UK - Leading UK lighting rental company Siyan invested in additional Robe MMX Spots to keep up with the demand for these popular fixtures and a busy autumn order book.

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire based Siyan, headed by Nick Valdez, services numerous tours, shows and events including a healthy pick of exciting 'bands of the moment'. The company also has a reputation for nurturing and producing new and emerging young lighting designers, operators / programmers and technicians.

Half of the new 24 MMX fixtures went directly out on tour with Feeder, where they were specified by LD Ewan McRobb and used as the main lights on the rig. McRobb had also taken some of Siyan's original batch of MMXs out on the Bryan Adams tour at the end of 2011. Siyan recently had MMX Spots out on Skunk Anansie's European tour with LD Andy 'Foxy' Smyth, which ran throughout November.

Nick Valdez expla

USA - Bandit Lites has announced the hiring of Andy Reese as the newest technical assistant to its Technical Services Department. Reese will be coordinating with the both the technical services and the sales departments to ensure that all customers (internal and external) get the parts and supplies that they need.

Originally a Knoxville native, Reese received his bachelors of science from Middle Tennessee State University, where he majored in the recording industry with a concentration in music business. He has since relocated to Nashville after working in Tulsa, OK as both an event and operations coordinator for the BOK Center and as the changeover manager for the Ted Constant Convocation Centre.

"I'm excited to be part of the Bandit Lites family," said Reese. "I respect this company and its tradition of quality in products, customer service and care for employ

The Netherlands - LED screen designer and manufacturer Pixled is showcasing its latest products and innovations at the ISE 2013 exhibition in Amsterdam ... on booth in HALL 11 at Booth D41.

Showing alongside the 'standard' rectangular tile based Pixled screens - which will include F-4, F-6 and F-10 - new floor based modules will be on display plus the popular transparent and flexible Linx curtain modules - available in 9, 12, 18, 25, 30 and 37 mm pixel pitches.

Also highlighted are the inventive LED surface strips including the newly launched F-24 strip.

Lastly - but by no means least - Pixled demonstrates its 'bread-and-butter' LED surfaces - high definition screens producing accurate and vivid colours, impressive output and high contrast ratios ... available in in 4mm, 6mm and 10mm versions.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Not only is Irish comedian Dara O Briain charming and funny, he is also very clever it would appear! Perhaps it is his enthusiasm for things or our constant desire to learn more, but it would seem that something 'adds up' for us, as comedy game show School of Hard Sums is back for a new series.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) provide the lights for the show which is designed by LD Michael Sutcliffe aka Sooty. The rig comprises of Pixel Par 90s, Chroma Floods, Alpha Beam 300's and 900mm Chroma Strips. The simple yet effective look ensures that you keep your mind focused on the job in hand.

School of Hard Sums is the last show to be filmed in TC4 of the iconic BBC Studios in London White City before it closes. It is scheduled to be aired in April on Dave.

(Jim Evans)

Belgium - Winter Wonders 2012 (Plaisirs D'hiver) festival was one of the major attractions in the centre of Brussels this Christmas. Thousands of people took leisurely strolls along the festive route between Place Saint-Jean and Marché au Poissons in a welcoming, dazzling and magical atmosphere typical of festivals at this time of year. The illuminated and sound-filled setting featured a wide range of fun activities (including street theatre, ice skating, music bands, and puppets etc.), as well as several large digital signage solutions.

The Christmas holidays are also an important time for many businesses who rely on the busy trade to boost profits before the end of the year. And this year at the Winter Wonders festival, Christmas shoppers were also greeted by several spectacular LED walls installed before the holiday rush to boost trade advertising and public informa

USA - Miley Cyrus performed with Israeli dubstep producer DJ Borgore in front of his Cream Machine built of Chauvet Professional MVP 18 video panels, during a Christmas Creampies Concert at the Fonda Theatre. Made of 65 MVP 18 fixtures, the truck displayed custom-made animations, while Cyrus and Borgore sang Decisions.

A concept of Morgan Lavery, owner of Future Visual, the idea of the Borgore Cream Machine is to make Borgore look like he is driving inside an ice cream truck, equipped with real 30-inch rims that move and spun around on motors. Forty-seven MVP 18 panels cover the main façade of the truck and 18 make up the rear screen behind the DJ booth, while two are modified for the front of the machine. "We built the truck specifically for the MVP™ 18 frame, since it can work with just about anything," said Collyns Stenzel, owner of Advanced Concert Pro

Europe - Luc Peumans from Genk, Belgium based creative visual design practice, Painting With Light, has designed stage and set lighting for the first arena touring production of Dreamworks' Madagascar LIVE!

Brought on-board by Netherlands based producers, Stage Entertainment Touring Productions, Peumans' joined a seriously talented and acclaimed creative team on a show high in production values that is scheduled to tour internationally for two years.

His work brings atmosphere and vibrancy to the pacey musical that follows the adventures, thrills, spills and comedy moments of a group of escapees from Central Park Zoo in New York ... who find themselves shipwrecked on the sandy shores of Madagascar.

Peumans used David Gallo's stage/set design, based on a series of curtains, elaborate scenic and printed drops, drapes and scrims used to create the different locations, as

France - Robert Juliat will be exhibiting at SIEL 2013, occupying the space familiar to last year's visitors (Stand C88) next to the 'Forum des Innovations'. The company will introduce Creative Concept Light by Robert Juliat, a new concept in lighting formulated to illustrate its forthcoming range of unique TIBO luminaires. The full TIBO range will be previewed at SIEL.

Robert Juliat's new TIBO family is now complete and presents a fully interchangeable range of modular fixtures which provides a complete solution to any lighting need.

"This is where Robert Juliat's Creative Concept Light comes in," explains sales director Claus Spreyer. "Imagine seven notes of music - how many ways they can be combined to obtain different variations of style and rhythm to generate a plethora of different emotions. Similarly, the Tibo range provides a wide range of component opti

The Netherlands - As a founding ISE exhibitor, Christie will again occupy a large, and intuitive multi-zone site at ISE 2013. Marking the exhibition's tenth anniversary the Christie production 'village' will combine stands H40, H46 and H50 inside Hall 1 into an ergonomically presented product showcase. The display boasts a brand new projection mapping façade created especially for the show.

There will be a heavy focus on market education and the stand will incorporate a dedicated technical service meeting space, manned by Christie certified engineers, where free consultation will be offered to all delegates, who will be apprised of the full extent of Christie's pro AV support services. This will be boosted by a dedicated seminar theatre, surrounded by videowall and MicroTiles Interactive zones, the presentation space for a new outdoor LCD flat panel LCD and a 1-chip DLP gallery

UK - Suppliers to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be able to champion their involvement in last summer's sporting spectacular, after a landmark deal has been reached by the Government, British Olympic Association (BOA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC). The deal will give companies the recognition that they deserve for the part they played in the success of the London Games.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller and BOA Chairman Lord Sebastian Coe announced that the companies which helped build the Park, venues and provided goods and services for the Games will be able to actively promote their work on the London 2012 Games. The move is designed to provide a significant boost to the country's economy by helping firms land contracts and deals on the back of their involvement with the London 2012 Games.

The new deal will benefit tens of thousands of British co

UK - PR Lighting has produced a fully-featured, compact and light weight LED moving Spot to add to its successful XLED range. The new PR XLED 250 Spot has been designed for club and bar use.

The fixture houses a Luminus PhlatLight CBT-90-W Big Chip white LED source - designed for demanding applications that require maximum lumen density, efficiency and reliability. With a 6500K colour system, power consumption is just 120W at 220V.

Features include a colour wheel comprising eight colours (plus white) and a gobo wheel (with 11 gobos plus white). The head movement offers adjustable speed 540° (pan) and 190° (tilt), with pan, tilt, swap and invert function, auto position correction and magnetic sensor positioning.

Other features include 0-100% linearly adjustable dimmer, electronic strobe (with 0.3-20fps) and standard beam angle of 20°. Control is via DMX512 (11 cha

Cultural Affairs - The submission process to find the UK's second City of Culture in 2017 has been launched by arts minister Ed Vaizey. The announcement came just days after Derry-Londonderry officially began its year-long celebrations as the inaugural UK City of Culture and sets out the timescale for submission of bids from cities interested in participating. Vaizey said, "The UK City of Culture is a prestigious title that is a vehicle for encouraging economic growth along with highlighting the very best of the country's cultural talent. Derry-Londonderry are already making the most of the opportunities being UK City of Culture brings and I would urge other local authorities and partnerships across the length and breadth of the UK to consider putting themselves forward."

Those interested in submitting bids to be UK City of Culture 2017 are being asked to register with

UK - Back in 2002, lighting designer Richard Williamson and Peter Kirkup (a student at the time, now VP of entertainment at LumenRadio) had the idea of setting up an online forum to discuss life and work backstage. On 29 January 2003 The Blue Room technical forums were born.

From small beginnings it has grown to become a huge resource to technicians all over the world, receiving well over 5m million hits per month from over 70,000 unique monthly visitors. Members have contributed over 450,000 posts to the site over the 10 years, with over 19,000 members using the site from across the industry.

The Blue Room technical forums are very pleased to be celebrating this landmark

birthday and hope for many more years of support, advice and friendship to come. Peter Kirkup commented, "Richard and I would like to thank all of the users for making us a huge success. We look forwar

UK - A squad of Clay Paky Sharpys proved the must-have gadgets for lighting designer Nick Gray at the latest Bond film premiere party at London's iconic Tate Modern.

Gray, of London-based lighting creator Renegade, specified 24 pure-beam Sharpys to create a high impact welcome for 1600 A-list guests at the Turbine Hall party to celebrate the release of Sam Mendes's James Bond film Skyfall.

The Sharpys were positioned pointing directly toward to entrance, shooting piercing shafts of light down The Bridge at arriving guests, taking advantage of Sharpys brightness usually achievable only with far greater wattages than its 189W rating, and the fixture's ability to produce a perfectly parallel, laser-like beam with an incredible output of 59,760 lx at 20m.

"I've been a long term user of Clay Paky luminaires for these sort of shows as well as for all my Kasabian concer

UK - At midnight on New Year's Eve, the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve Firework Display celebrated an extraordinary year for the capital. Jack Morton Worldwide, the award winning global brand experience agency, created the display for the ninth successive year. The agency engaged lighting designer, Durham Marenghi who worked with Stage Electrics to supply CRMX wireless distribution of DMX data to achieve the design. Marenghi's lighting provided an impressive visual display including a large quantity of Clay Paky and Vari-Lite fixtures, as well A&O SearchLights. Control was linked to a GPS Timecode source to provide true synchronization with the fireworks, audio playback and other production elements.

As has now become custom, Marenghi placed a moving light into each of the 32 capsules on the London Eye and once again turned to the CRMX Technology to provide the critical wirele

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